{"id":84913,"date":"2025-03-05T22:36:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T04:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ryan-grubb-compares-keelon-russell-trait-to-michael-penix-jr\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T22:36:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T04:36:48","slug":"ryan-grubb-compares-keelon-russell-trait-to-michael-penix-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ryan-grubb-compares-keelon-russell-trait-to-michael-penix-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Grubb compares Keelon Russell trait to Michael Penix Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

Keelon Russell<\/a><\/strong> arguably has the highest expectations of any quarterback in Alabama<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s quarterback room heading into the 2025 college football season.<\/p>\n

Entering the program as the No. 2 overall recruit in this year\u2019s cycle, Crimson Tide fans have expressed excitement for what his skillset can bring the Alabama football team in the coming years. Having spent some time with him on the field this spring, new Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb revealed two NFL comparisons he\u2019s quickly noticed from the 17-year old blue-chipper. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I noticed, thinking about Jake Haener<\/a><\/strong> way back to Fresno State, he\u2019s with the Saints now\u2013 Jake\u2019s got a really whippy, quick release. Once he made his decision, he was very decisive with the ball. I see that with [Keelon] a lot,\u201d Grubb explained. \u201cAnd then Keelon\u2019s vision reminds me of [Michael Penix Jr.<\/a><\/strong>] a little bit. He has good, wide vision with the field. He can see it even when he doesn\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s going on. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still working through all the processes, but he\u2019ll get there. He\u2019s a good player.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Russell continues to make an impression on Grubb and the rest of the Alabama staff, the race to become Crimson Tide QB1 is far from over. Along with Ty Simpson<\/a><\/strong>, Russell will be competing against redshirt sophomore Austin Mack<\/a><\/strong> for the coveted starting spot.<\/p>\n

However, Russell appears to have made a strong first impression on his offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeelon is awesome, man,\u201d Grubb said. \u201cHe\u2019s very unflappable. Even when things don\u2019t go right, and they invariably will for a freshman quarterback, I think he\u2019s done an awesome job just kind of staying the course and being very steady, and he can make a lot of plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to the media earlier in the week and raved over the freshman\u2019s hard work and commitment to improving himself. The 6 foot 3 Texas native has reportedly put on 17 pounds since arriving on Campus earlier this year. <\/p>\n

Fans will get to see Russell\u2019s skills showcased during the Crimson Tide\u2019s annual A-Day spring game is scheduled for Saturday, April 12. The final day of spring practices, it will take place in front of Alabama fans inside Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.<\/p>\n

From there, he\u2019ll have an entire summer to compete against Mack and Simpson with the goal of being the team\u2019s day one starter in mind. <\/p>\n

The post Ryan Grubb compares Keelon Russell trait to Michael Penix Jr.<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keelon Russell arguably has the highest expectations of any quarterback in Alabama\u2018s quarterback room heading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}